THE 20 BEST ATHLEISURE BRANDS FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN 2024
Explore the history of athleisure as well as 20 of the best athleisure brands for men and women to shop in 2024 here.
The rise in popularity of athleisure can be traced back to a series of behavioral changes since the early twentieth century. At the beginning of the journey, sports were seen solely as a competitive activity, done to stay healthy and hungry for success. During this time, sportswear was cumbersome and solely designed for practicality. Over the next decades, designers streamlined the purpose-built sports clothing, making it lighter and more breathable, but it remained solely within the sports arena.
The ’70s and ’80s saw the pivotal changes that birthed athleisure. The massive popularization of sports like running and tennis proved that there was space for sports in the average lifestyle—they didn’t have to be played with fierce competition and didn’t require any major athleticism, putting the leisure in athleisure.
As these sports became permanent fixtures in the daily lives of the everyman, so did the loose-fitting, comfortable sweatpants, shorts, and crew-neck sweaters that came with them. It was only a matter of time before the versatility and comfort of early athleisure gripped the world. But it wasn’t just the practicality of the garments that made them desirable—it was also what they denoted.
The plush fleece-backed jersey of a tracksuit symbolized a life of leisure. It was aspirational, and in many ways still is. Brands like Sporty & Rich, whose retro sweats feature imaginary tennis club slogans, bottle this lifestyle and hence epitomize one of the driving forces behind athleisure. The headline is “I’m healthy,” but the small print says, “I have enough time and money to look after myself.”
In the modern day, athleisure is a foundational part of the daily wardrobe. With brands ranging from the grunginess of Satisfy to the prim-and-proper likes of Alo, the world of luxury athleisure easily touches all sides of the style equation. This list features 20 of the best athleisure brands to know in 2024, illustrating that the category is no longer a niche subculture but an expansive world woven into the fabric of modern-day fashion.
Featured In This Image: 7 DAYS Active sport top
Founded: 2019
City: Copenhagen, Denmark
Instagram: @7days_active
SSENSE says: Using functional sportswear as its starting point, 7 DAYS Active applies Scandinavian design principles to elevate its athleisure for men and women to new heights. Luxury materials and streetwear-informed detailing make the ready-to-wear collection suitable for everyday wear as well as performance.
Featured In This Image: adidas Originals sweatshirt
Founded: 1997
City: Herzogenaurach, Germany
Instagram: @adidasoriginals
SSENSE says: No sublabel has had a bigger platform to launch from than adidas Originals. Debuting in 1997, the offshoot allowed adidas to revisit some of its most iconic archive pieces while still developing cutting-edge sportswear under the adidas mainline. Originals takes a more style-centric approach, making it a leader in affordable athleisure clothing.
Featured In This Image: Alo sport top
Founded: 2007
City: Los Angeles, US
Instagram: @alo
SSENSE says: Centered around the mindfulness and movement of yoga, Los Angeles label Alo practices what it preaches with a commitment to ethical production and its sweatshop-free pieces. The toast of supermodels the world over, Alo’s recognizably minimal and sculptural yoga pants and sports bras are regular fixtures on Instagram feeds and must-have sportswear lists.
Featured In This Image: District Vision sweater
Founded: 2015
City: New York City, US
Instagram: @districtvision
SSENSE says: Beginning life as a line of sports sunglasses, District Vision managed to break the constraints of its founding category to introduce a range of highly successful luxury athleisure and sportswear. Combining fashion acumen gained from experience at Acne Studios and Saint Laurent, founders Tom Daly and Max Vallot cater to the health-conscious as much as the style-conscious.
Featured In This Image: Fear of God ESSENTIALS leggings
Founded: 2018
City: Los Angeles, US
Instagram: @essentials
SSENSE says: Stemming from Jerry Lorenzo’s Fear of God luxury label, ESSENTIALS was launched in 2018 and has since overtaken its older sibling in popularity. This can be chalked up to its wild versatility. Informed by the luxurious fabrics and color palettes of mainline Fear of God, ESSENTIALS treads the line between streetwear, sportswear, and luxury ready-to-wear. At a much-reduced price point, the brand is a contender for the best affordable athleisure on the market.
Featured In This Image: Goldwin 0 sweater
Founded: 2022
City: Tokyo, Japan
Instagram: @goldwin_0
SSENSE says: Debuted in Fall/Winter 2022, Goldwin 0 is an experimental arm of the iconic Japanese label Goldwin. Together with designer Nur Abbas and London-based studio OK-RM, Goldwin’s 0 diffusion line champions zero-waste clothing that doesn’t stray from the original brand’s commitment to the highest specifications of functional sportswear. Alongside technical outerwear are versatile and striking everyday pieces like shorts, sweatshirts, and lounge pants.
Featured In This Image: Gramicci vest
Founded: 1982
City: Ventura, US
Instagram: @gramicci
SSENSE says: Climbing isn’t a sport that immediately lends itself to the world of athleisure like tennis, yoga, or running. But, under the direction of Gramicci, climbing clothing becomes the building blocks of a functional and fashionable daily wardrobe. Functional fabrics like fleece and down padding are reframed with eye-catching cuts and bold detailing, aligning them with everyday wear.
Featured In This Image: HÉROS unitard
Founded: 2017
City: Los Angeles, US
Instagram: @herosofficial
SSENSE says: Founded by former Hollywood stylist Joni Kilmurry, HÉROS exhibits the kind of self-assured minimalism that can only be learned over years in the industry. Understated, second-skin essentials are cut from luxury Italian performance fabrics for longevity and comfort while expert color palettes constitute the defining visual character of the label.
Featured In This Image: Lacoste jacket
Founded: 1933
City: Troyes, France
Instagram: @lacoste
SSENSE says: Founded by early tennis star René Lacoste, the eponymous label comes from pedigree stock in terms of athleisure. While the label still produces well-respected tennis clothing, its lifestyle range has become the most popular part of its output. From tracksuits to pastel polo shirts, each garment is demarcated by the embroidered crocodile logo to the chest.
Featured In This Image: Lady White Co. jacket
Founded: 2015
City: Los Angeles, US
Instagram: @ladywhite_co
SSENSE says: The crux of Lady White Co.’s success is its fabrics. Sourced from local, family-owned factories that use sustainable and ethical methods, the high-end, heavyweight materials keep the brand’s cult following coming back. Inspired by the silhouettes of classic American sportswear, the label’s garments have an authenticity that many futuristic, technical designs lack.
Featured In This Image: MAAP sport top
Founded: 2014
City: Melbourne, Australia
Instagram: @maap.cc
SSENSE says: Cycling has been an unexpected leader in the arena of sports with a style component. Brands like MAAP have been flying the flag high for the sport, producing high-performance, style-led collections that use recycled materials as their base.
Featured In This Image: New Balance hoodie
Founded: 1906
City: Boston, US
Instagram: @newbalance
SSENSE says: For more than 100 years, New Balance has been working at the cutting edge of sportswear design. While the label continues to break boundaries with performance running shoes, its retro designs are what situate it with the best athleisure brands right now. From footwear to tracksuits, New Balance garments are informed by the past and executed in comfortable fabrics.
Featured In This Image: Norda t-shirt
Founded: 2021
City: Montreal, Canada
Instagram: @nordarun
SSENSE says: Born on the rugged trails of Montreal, Norda is first and foremost a running brand. Still young, the label has made an outsized mark on the world of sportswear with a range of great-looking trail running shoes and continues to excite with apparel. Although still diminutive, the ready-to-wear collection promises the same balance of performance and style as the footwear.
Featured In This Image: On sweater
Founded: 2010
City: Zurich, Switzerland
Instagram: @on
SSENSE says: Hailing from Zurich, On has provided a blueprint for all prospective footwear brands entering a crowded market. With a close focus on proprietary tech, the Swiss brand has grown in just over a decade to be a dominant force in performance athletics. Alongside the famous footwear range is an equally well-respected line of apparel that blends sleek styling with a similar focus on high-level utility.
Featured In This Image: Outdoor Voices jacket
Founded: 2014
City: Austin, US
Instagram: @outdoorvoices
SSENSE says: With the mindset that doing things for fun always beats doing them to win, Outdoor Voices perfectly encapsulates the athleisure lifestyle. By incorporating the kind of performance specs we’d expect from sportswear into garments designed for everyday life, Outdoor Voices effectively makes room for sports as leisure.
Featured In This Image: Pas Normal Studios sport top
Founded: 2015
City: Copenhagen, Denmark
Instagram: @pasnormalstudios
SSENSE says: Pas Normal Studios is one of the best cycling brands in the world right now, offering a new way to view the sport as a style arena. With experience at Wood Wood—a Scandinavian brand worth some attention—founder Karl-Oskar Olsen delivers cycling gear made from recycled materials, designed to withstand extreme conditions, and with a style identity stronger than many luxury ready-to-wear names.
Featured In This Image: Rapha sweatshirt
Founded: 2004
City: London, England
Instagram: @Rapha
SSENSE says: Arguably the brand that kickstarted cycling’s move into the mainstream, London-based Rapha has been exploring the more luxurious side of performance gear for two decades and it shows. Along with purpose-built cycling garments, Rapha also offers everyday pieces ranging from hoodies to lightweight down jackets.
Featured In This Image: Satisfy sweatshirt
Founded: 2015
City: Paris, France
Instagram: @satisfyrunning
SSENSE says: Since 2015, Satisfy has been preaching the transcendental benefits of running long, slow distance. Its apparel collections are so well-loved from a style perspective that it’s easy to forget that they’re designed from high-tech performance fabrics. Heavy distressed detailing and psychedelic touches are signature characteristics of the Parisian label’s design language.
Featured In This Image: Soar Running sweater
Founded: 2015
City: London, England
Instagram: @soar_running
SSENSE says: Founder Tim Soar envisioned a label that produced fashionable and functional activewear when he launched SOAR RUNNING in 2015. Since then, the label has tackled the performance world, ushering in an aesthetic that balances typical sportswear with style-forward detailing and high-end fabrics. On a walk around Hackney, London, you’re as likely to see a run club decked out in SOAR as you are someone enjoying a leisurely cup at a coffee spot.
Featured In This Image: Sporty & Rich hat
Founded: 2015
City: New York, US
Instagram: @sportyandrich
SSENSE says: What began as a mood board back in 2015 has become a fully fledged ready-to-wear brand at the hands of Emily Oberg. Built around the polished lifestyle that made athleisure such a popular look, Sporty & Rich regularly features ’80s-style graphics belonging to fictional country clubs or wellness retreats.
- Date: December 8, 2023
